


but no one's winning

by palaces_outofparagraphs



Series: after laughter [4]
Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Outtake, family tree nonsense, implied anti ezria, there is no plot just a nice phone conversation, this is largely pointless, toby and aria tag team taking care of spence, toby and jason are bffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 18:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11583756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palaces_outofparagraphs/pseuds/palaces_outofparagraphs
Summary: Aria and Toby's missing conversation from "Irreparable."





	but no one's winning

**Author's Note:**

> (this wont make sense if you don't read the one before this in the series!)

“Hello, Aria?” He picks up on the first ring even though he’s entirely technically in the middle of a conversation with Jason, holding up a hand to excuse himself and slipping out of the room. He never turns down a call from any of the girls. He’s picked up Emily from her share of places, and he knows it always might be linked to Spence, and even if it isn’t - he cares so much for all of them. He knows all of them, to varying degrees, trust him, and rely on him, and he knows how invaluable that is to him.

“Hey, Toby.” Aria’s voice is a trifle uneasy, and it sends a stab of worry down his spine.

“Is Spencer okay?” he asks, mind reeling for possibilities. hurt or sick or sad, or drove to Aria’s house instead of school and sat in her living room crying, (it’s happened before.)

“Uh, I mean, I think so?” He can hear Aria shifting, a door closing. “I...she just texted me.”

“Is she  _ okay?” _

“No. She - she had a panic attack while driving. At least, I think it was a panic attack.”

He’s already scrabbling for his keys. “Where is she? Is she with you?”

“No, no - Toby, she’s okay. The car, it had to be towed, but she wasn’t hurt at all, she was totally fine. And she’s, um, going to class.”

“No.” His mind is oddly blank,  _ go get spencer  _ flashing over and over again. “No, I have to - ”

“No, you _don’t._ ” Her voice is firmer. “No. She’s okay. She texted me and she said she had had _half a panic_ _attack -_ she’s okay, though. Physically, she’s okay. And she’s determined to get through this day, and you know if you show up there, she’s not getting into the truck until she’s finished with _all_ her classes.”

Frustratingly, Aria is entirely right. He sighs, thrusting a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Okay. Okay, yeah.”

“I’m just calling to let you know,” she continues, “and because she’s going to need a ride home.”

“Okay. Yeah.” He sighed. “She really won’t come with me, if I turn up now, will she?”

“Nah.”

“Okay. Thanks, Aria. Like, thank you so much.”

“No problem.” He can hear her smile.

“You okay?” Just making sure, the way he always makes sure with Spence.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Just at the studio, you know.”

“Yeah. Nice. All right, I better - ”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Thanks so much for calling.”

“No problem. Have a good one, Toby.”

“Thanks, Aria.”

“Who was that?” says Jason when he comes back in the room.

Toby looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “It was Aria,” he says, measuring what his voice is doing carefully. Jason is far more see through than he thinks he is. It’s been weird, working with him, but good, too. They’ve gotten to know each other pretty well.

Well enough so that he figured out a while ago that Jason never really got over Aria. And he’s keeping quiet about it for now, but he’s starting to wonder how long after a divorce one generally starts getting back out there, so to speak.

Not that the situation of Aria’s divorce was exactly natural, or sane, and not that they don’t all have a million other things to contend with. But something in Toby’s gut tells him that Jason and Aria would be good together.

Well, his gut, and Spencer. Who, obviously, Toby told the second he worked it out. Because, well, she’s Spencer, isn’t she.

“Surely you heard me say,  _ hi, Aria,”  _ he adds reasonably.

“Well, yeah.” Jason straightens, shrugs, doesn’t look quite at him. “How, uh, how is she? Is she okay?’

“Yeah, she’s fine,” says Toby, kneeling back down to the ground where he was thumbing through a series of files in one of their many messy cabinets, looking for a permit they need. “She was just calling to let me know that Spencer’s gonna need a ride home.”

“Oh. Is Spencer okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. I hope so.” He pauses, trying to remember what, ultimately, the relationship between Jason and Spencer came out to. Spencer’s mother is Mary Drake, and her father is Peter Hastings - right? yeah - Jason’s father is Peter Hastings, and his mother is...Jessica? Was it Jessica? It was. Jessica DiLaurentis.

So they’re half siblings, and also cousins. But biologically, half siblings, cousins, and  _ full blood  _ siblings, because Mary and Jessica are identical.

So Spencer’s his sister. Thus, the worry in Jason’s voice makes sense.

God, Rosewood is a twisted batch of relatives. 

“It’s just, hard, you know,” says Toby. Where  _ is  _ the damn permit? “She has bad days.”

“Don’t we all,” says Jason wryly.

“Yeah,” says Toby, the truth of it hitting him in the chest. “Yeah.”

He finds the permit at least, frees it from the two folders it’s trapped between, and stands. “She’ll be okay,” he says.

“I hope so,” says Jason. “I hope so.”

 


End file.
